> Greetings. I'm very interested in your message about finding live Varroa mites
> on bees from a colony which was dead for 3-4 weeks! That's certainly a lot
> longer than has been reported before. Are you absolutely sure that all the bees
> were dead that long? They will sometimes seem so especially in cold weather when
> out of contact with food. At such times the biological process almost shuts
> down completely. I'm sorry to bother you if you have already answered this
> question on the net, but I have been so busy the last while I have not been able
> to read BEE-L or respond to your posting.
 
No, I can't be absolutely sure. I know that the colony was close to annihilation
(less than 100 live) five weeks beforehand and simply extrapolated. What I can
be absolutely sure of is that they were dead for 10 days since I took the frames
out of the dead hive and only checked the bees comprehensively 10 days later.
The mite I found was on a bee that died with his head in the comb. Perhaps
this keeps the dead bee somewhat fresher? Of all the dead bees, only 1% were
found in that position.
 
All in all, few bees had varroa. Nosema (and signs of dysentery) was widespread.
I don't know about tracheal mites.
 
How long has your experience shown that Varroa live without a live host?
--
Conrad Sigona                                      Open Systems Solutions, Inc.
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